Interventional devices, such as stents, are often introduced percutaneously into the body of a patient using a medical device delivery system. The medical device delivery system typically includes a medical device delivery catheter configured to support the stent, or other medical device, as the stent is delivered to a target site within the body. The stent may then be deployed at the target site within the lumen of a vessel or other bodily passageway to reinforce, repair, or otherwise provide support for the body lumen. For example, when a patient suffers from atherosclerosis, a stent may be placed in a coronary or a peripheral artery at a location where the artery is weakened or damaged. The stent, once in place, may reinforce that portion of the artery, thereby restoring normal blood flow through the vessel.
The medical device delivery catheter may obtain the necessary axial strength by relying on lengths of tubing having different axial strengths. For example, the more proximal segments of the inner catheter member may utilize tubing that has increased axial strength to allow a clinician to push the catheter portion of the delivery system through the lumen. The more distal segments of the delivery catheter may be made from a more flexible tubing to provide needed flexibility at the distal end, which often navigates tortuous and narrow body passageways. As a result, the delivery catheter is often made from a number of different tubular segments bonded together to create a composite structure. From a manufacturing standpoint, the bonding of different tubular segments together may increase the overall cost of the medical device delivery catheter and thus, the delivery system, since the bonding process can often be labor intensive. Additionally, there is a possibility that the delivery catheter could be separated at one of the joints as the clinician is retracting the delivery catheter from the patient.
The present disclosure is directed toward one or more of the problems set forth above.